| Russian seaplanes set world records, but are not put into mass production Despite the very loud name of the event - the Sixth International Exhibition and Scientific Conference on Hydroaviation "Gidroaviasalon", this air show, both in terms of exhibition space and the number of participants, cannot lay claim to scale, much less compare with a show of the same topic in Farnborough or Les Bourget. Moreover, over the years, as regular participants of the exhibition note, fewer and fewer VIPs are visiting it. And this is a bad sign. In short, it is still difficult to talk about the promotion and obvious progress of the salon.
However, this time the attention of aviation specialists and journalists was focused precisely on the hydroair show - by the way, the only one in the world. The reason for the interest lies precisely in the records that have been set in recent days. Firstly, the Be-200ChS aircraft set a speed record in flight along a closed five-hundred-kilometer route without cargo (according to the international classification C-2i). The plane was piloted by test pilot Nikolai Okhotnikov, and Air Force Commander-in-Chief Army General Vladimir Mikhailov was in the co-pilot's seat. The preliminary result is 650 km per hour. The next day, the plane set a speed record already on a thousand-kilometer route without cargo and with a commercial load of 1000 and 2000 kg. Finally, the speed record was set on the same route and with the same set of loads, however, if when setting the first four records the Be-200 was positioned as a seaplane (it took off from the water and landed on the water), then in the last one it was positioned as an amphibious aircraft ( took off from the water and landed on land).
All records belong to the aircraft, which had just returned from Portugal, where the crew put out numerous fires under leasing conditions and were very pleased with the results achieved by local specialists.
Of course, the organizers were somewhat hasty in announcing the establishment of a record. As Tatyana Polozova, commissioner of the National Aviation Commission of Russia (a structure of the Federal Aviation Service of the Russian Federation), explained to the Vremya Novostey observer, the records will be officially and documented no earlier than three months later. And this will not only be an internal national record. After approval, the national dossier, which will contain evidence of the record, will be sent to the International Aeronautical Federation. Based on objective data, the Russians will tell you the conditions under which the flight was made, indicating, in particular, the weight carried, the starting, finishing and turning points.
According to the Sports Code, all named flights are called record attempts. However, you can be almost sure that the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale will confirm that the records have already taken place. The secret is simple. As explained to the Vremya Novostei observer, Kim Nikitenko, head of the Flight Test Center of the Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex (TANTK) named after. Beriev, where the Be-200 was produced, this machine is the only one in the world in its class (take-off weight - from 35 to 45 tons), 34 world records have already been set on it. In general, it is the company’s tradition to set records. Pointing to the A-42 Albatross amphibious aircraft standing nearby, Kim Nikitenko said that this aircraft had set 146 world records. Unfortunately, its creation and improvement took place in the early 90s of the last century, and the work was not brought to its logical conclusion. However, today there is an opportunity to return to the topic. This car is no longer called the “Albatross”, but work on it is underway. Which ones exactly, TANTK is keeping silent, promising to open after the next record.
Another achievement of the hydroaviation show in Gelendzhik is unlikely to be recorded by domestic and international organizations, but may well qualify for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records. About fifty journalists, Russian and foreign, writing and filming, took a ride on another Be-200, which demonstrated dashing flights, taking in and dumping water to the public gathered on the Gelendzhik Bay embankment. The Vremya Novostei columnist was among the “service passengers,” as ship commander Evgeniy Serykh called the journalists. The name “service” is used since neither the manufacturer nor the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which owns the Be-200, has the right to transport ordinary passengers.
The flight, of course, impressed everyone: a splashing sea wave almost at the level of the window, dashing turns, during which some members of the press had to use plastic bags, and the cameramen could barely hold the television cameras. The main thing in this flight is the sound of the waves on the bottom of the ship, similar to the burst of a heavy machine gun, which clearly gives off the sound of shot in the heels.
After landing, the journalists were introduced to the company's test pilots. Beriev. The Zhukovsky Club of Heroes, in accordance with the order of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Vladimir Masorin, awarded the veterans the Admiral Ushakov medal. The awards are intended to symbolize the union of water and sky. Every second veteran reminded the journalists, slightly dazed from the flight, that now, according to tradition, they must definitely take a swim and drink a glass of vodka. Almost no one took this advice... Nikolay POROSKOV, Gelendzhik |
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